NAMPA, Idaho — There will be a new state champion in 5A this season as Meridian knocked off Owyhee in the first round of the Real Dairy Shootout at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
On Friday, Meridian faced Mountain View in the state semi-finals in a game that featured 53 points in the fourth quarter.
Ryan Baker came out hot for Meridian. Baker scored 28 points in their opening round win and led Meridian with 17 points as the Warriors jumped out to an early lead.
Mountain View would respond behind Dyson Judd, who scored 15 in the game and had an old fashioned three-point play and a long range three-pointer to cut the lead to two at the half.
However, the third quarter belonged to Meridian as they would get the lead as high as 11 points. Josh Christensen played really well in the second half, he scored 15 in the game as Meridian had four players in double figures and another player with eight points.
Mountain View would not go down without a fight and they would come out firing in the fourth quarter. Mountain View had three players in double figures including their outstanding freshman Logan Haustveit who led the team with 23 points.
Even though Mountain View would get as close as two points on a steal and a lay-in by Haustveit, Meridian was too much down the stretch.
There were some close calls that could have gone either way for both teams, but Meridian locked it up at the line, making 15 out of 17 and earning a spot in the state championship with a 71-68 victory.
Meridian will play Lake City on Saturday night. Lake City crushed Highland in the first round 62-25 and they defeated Madison 58-49 in the semis.
Lake City out of Coeur d'Alene features Blake Buchanan, the 6'9" senior will play collegiately at the University of Virginia next year and he has been nominated for the McDonald's All-American game.
Saturday will feature championship games all-day long starting with 1A Division 2 at 9:30 a.m. and culminating with the 5A at 8:00 p.m.
Here is a link to the brackets.
